20 Rials - Jazirat Masirah

Masirah Island, off Oman's eastern coast, served as a critical Royal Air Force staging base through the 1960s and early 1970s under a basing agreement with the Sultan — quietly one of Britain's last operational footholds in the Gulf region. The RAF finally withdrew in 1977. Oman's commemorative rial and rival series has increasingly turned to geographic subjects as the country promotes domestic tourism, and Masirah, known for its loggerhead turtle nesting beaches, fits that agenda precisely.